Puffball Love
by KarieLuisaSaja
Summary: After a 'crashing' incident with another puffball, Kirby finally feels like he has a reason to stay in the city. But will things go smoothly, or will Kirby just become more miserable than ever?
1. Chapter 1 Discovery

Chapter 1- Discovery

"Blah blah blah bananas. Blah blah blah cereal." Kirby grumbled, dragging a shopping basket behind him and glancing at his list. "I hate shopping. Why is it my job anyways?"

"Blah blah blah milk." Kirby inflated himself and flew up to reach the 2 milk, dropping it in the shopping basket with the other foods. "The end," Kirby dragged it to the register.

Hearing a scraping noise, the man at the register looked up. "Who's there?" He asked dully.

"Over here." Kirby complained, waving his short arms. The man at the register looked rapidly back in forth, but couldn't find the source of the voice.

"Down here!" Kirby snapped, and the man looked down, blinking at the short, circular pink puffball buying groceries. Blinking, the man checked him out, watching Kirby until he passed through the doors, and burst into laughter.

"Stupid groceries," Kirby whined. "I want to go home. I don't like it here. What's this place called? Oh yeah, World-of-the-Humans."

Stalking to the apartment he rented a few blocks down the road, Kirby was complaining too much to watch where he was going. If he had been more careful, he would have noticed another pink fluff ball doing something similar.

"Stupid stupid…" Kirby began.

"Loser loser…" The other puffball began.

Neither of them finished their sentences. Both of them smashed into each other, groceries scattering everywhere.

"You broke my eggs!" Sure enough, there were egg whites and shells plastered on the ground and on her.

"At least you're not covered with milk! And I don't even like the stuff!" Kirby accused. Then he stopped, seeing the other puffball for the first time.

She stopped too, noticing that Kirby looked similar in appearance to her. "What're you looking at?" She snapped.

"Where are you from?" Kirby asked her, brushing some of the milk of him.

"Dreamland, why?"

"Me too."

"You must be one of those puffball critters, like me." The girl complained, brushing an egg shell from her tuft of pink hair between two cat-like ears.

"How funny to, erm, run into you, here." Kirby replied.

"Well, I moved here after those loser Dreamland slugs decided I was a loser and therefore I left. Why take abuse I don't deserve?" She questioned him. Kirby shrugged.

"At least nobody here bothers me too much. We puffballs don't seem to matter too much." Kirby pointed out, and the girl nodded.

"Isn't it too good to be true?" Kirby nodded. "What's your name…?"

"I'm Karen, and you are…?"

"Kirby, nice to meet you." Kirby shook her hand.

"I'd better get going," Karen told him. "I need to get these eggs off of me before I get salmonella or something." Kirby nodded again.

"I'll see you around."

"I'll be hard to miss." Karen snorted. Kirby waved, before collecting his still usable groceries, and continuing on. Neither Kirby nor Karen did it intentionally, but neither of them were muttering under their breath as they made their way home.

Kirby was silent in awe. Everywhere he went, he had been told that no other of his species existed. Well, Karen had proved them all wrong. Kirby absentmindedly wondered if people told her the same thing.

For once, Kirby felt like continuing to live in his apartment, and he wasn't tempted to call his friend in Dreamland and arrange for a way to get out of this place. Maybe the city wasn't so bad after all.

Kirby put the cereal in the cabinet and the bananas in the refrigerator. The milk, of course, was thrown away. Kirby took a wet towel and washed himself down to get rid of the smell of spoiling milk and of eggs.

_What an interesting day_, Kirby told himself after throwing the towel in the hamper.

_I met another of my kind, and a female at that, named Karen. What could the people in Dreamland have done to her, though? They never turned against me._

Clearing these thoughts from his mind, Kirby continued his day normally.

Well, almost.

Not a single complaint came to mind, not even when there was a long line for ice cream, or when Kirby had to go back to the store.

_What an interesting day._

_Maybe the city's not so bad after all._


	2. Chapter 2 Reasons

Chapter 2- Reasons

Naturally, Kirby had his reasons for moving to the city from Dreamland. Travel brochures made Dreamland sound like the most wonderful place to be: Tourist attractions, heavenly weather, astounding beaches, and the list goes on and on. So when Kirby crash landed on the island, he had half a mind to stay there for a while. There were plenty of kind folks there.

But, as Kirby reached his second full year in Dreamland, something changed. Instead of being outspoken and friendly, the townsfolk all over Dreamland had become quiet and sulking, except for a select few.

To Kirby, Dreamland had been a place where he could make friends even though he was an entirely different, unknown species. What made the townsfolk go through such drastic changes, Kirby didn't know. In fact, no one did. Not even with the help of his friend and her brother could they figure it out, and the three of them made a formidable detective team. It wouldn't have been the first time that they had paired up to solve something.

But during their research, something had gone fatally wrong. The friend's brother, he was caught. He was found looking around the king's castle for evidence that there may have been a monster in the midst of the people. The king took this as treason, and when the boy was taken to court, and then found guilty, he was thrown in jail.

The boy's sister had suggested that Kirby got out of Dreamland as fast as he could, and Kirby heeded the warning, fleeing to the city. She had sent him letters, filling Kirby in on the situation. From when she was accused of treason to when the old king was overthrown and Dreamland returned to his former glory, Kirby had letters documenting it all.

Even though Dreamland was back in all its glory, Kirby had no wish to return to his old paradise. The memories of his friends, being accused and the darkness of the townsfolk still stung Kirby. It may have over a year ago, but the memories hung over Kirby.

Maybe he was afraid that it could happen again, or maybe it was just that after all of that, Kirby had decided that Dreamland wasn't the paradise Kirby had made it out to be. Either way, Kirby had vowed to never return.

He still kept up with going-ons with his old friends, and sometimes, Kirby wistfully would wish he could move back, and dial the number of his friends' place. But then, Kirby would remember what happened that dark summer, and any want to go back would evaporate, and the phone would return to its cradle.

It had been three days since Kirby had run into Karen for the first time, and he saw her each day when he went out on one of his errands and she on hers. They would have a short friendly conversation that put the both of them in good spirits before they moved on, saying they had more to do. Today was no exception.

Karen was coming from the direction of the supermarket, grasping more groceries than humanly possible, and Kirby was on his way to a convenience store down the road from the supermarket to pick up some things he couldn't get at the supermarket.

"Hey Kirby." Karen greeted, opening the day's conversation.

"Hello." Kirby returned. There was a short moment of icy silence that Karen broke first.

"So, Kirby, do you have any suggestions for where I could buy something for my friend in Dreamland's birthday?" Karen asked, setting down a grocery bag on the sidewalk. Karen's green eyes were filled with thoughtfulness.

"Well, it depends on what they like," Kirby began.

"She likes pretty much anything, honestly." Karen replied. "Trust me; I have a hard enough time buying something for her as it is, not to mention this city is still confusing. I did only move here about three months ago." Kirby nodded. He couldn't even the count the number of times that he had gotten himself hopelessly lost in what seemed to be an endless maze of buildings.

"Try maybe a little trinket, like maybe a fairly cheap necklace. If you have any inside jokes, try something that has to do with that." Kirby suggested, frowning slightly. Karen nodded.

"Alright, thanks. I appreciate the help. I'd better find something for her. She might get mad if she thinks I forgot." With a dramatic sigh, Karen lifted up her grocery bags and flew away.

Kirby watched her soar away wonderingly. He hadn't realized until now how happy these short conversations made him. Kirby had finally noticed how since he met Karen, he had grumbled less than usual. Even the landlord, who Kirby only saw once a month to pay his rent, had mentioned something about it, which Kirby disregarded.

"You know Kirby," He had said, looking down on Kirby. "You seem to be in a good mood today."

"Whatever," Kirby had replied sarcastically, waving the man away. Kirby would rather spend his nights in solitude, away from the strangeness of the humans that inhabited the other apartments.

Maybe the landlord wasn't as insane as Kirby had made him out to be. _Strange, isn't it?_ Kirby told himself.

Picking up a few knick-knacks at the store, Kirby came home to bad news. On the answering machine, was his friend's voice.

"Kirby?" She swore. "Why are you never around? Look, my brother's in trouble. I need your help. Kirby, you'd better pick your lazy self up and call me. Got it?" The dial tone buzzed annoyingly after she hung up.

It was happening again. Kirby knew it was smart for him to stay in the city. It was happening again. Would Kirby have to break his vow to never return to his ex-paradise?

Kirby hoped not, but he had a bad feeling. Something was going to go terribly wrong.


End file.
